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J. P. HARDY.

TENSION FOR SEWING MACHINES. No. 560,793. Patented May 26, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. HARDY, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

TENSION FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,793, dated May 26,1896.

Application filed August 26, 1895.

To aZl whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs F. HARDY, of the city and county of New York,in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inTensions for Sewing- Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in tensions for sewing-machines,in which the thread, just before it is passed to the needle, is retardedin such a manner as to prevent it from rendering too freely under thesharp pull upon it of a rapidly-reciprocating needle, and at the sametime permitted to yield readily to the pull exerted upon it by theneedle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows the head at the end of theoverhanging arm on a sewing-machine in side elevation with the tensionin position thereon. Fig. 2 is aview in detail, showing the tensiondevice in transverse section. Fig. 3 represents the outside face of atension device, and Fig. 4 the inside face. I

The particular style of sewing-machine to which the tension is appliedis a matter of choice. 7

The tension device consists of a cylindrical cap A, provided with acentral hub a, in which there is formed a screw-thread for the recep-"tion of a clamping-screw B. The inner end of the hub a projects towardthe face of the machine-head O a little farther than the rim a of thecap A, so that when the cap A is drawn toward the head 0 until the endof the hub a engages the face of the head 0 there will be left a spacebetween the edge of the rim co and the face of the head 0 for thepassage of the thread 0. The interior of the cap A is filled with feltD, the inner face of which projects flush with or a little beyond theinner end of the hub a, so that when the end of the hub Ct is drawn intocontact with the face of the head 0 the felt D will rest with its faceengaging the face of the head 0 with more or less pressure. The thread 0passes between the face of the felt D and the smooth metallic Serial No.560,496. (No model.)

face of the head 0. It is caught by the fibers of the felt, which, likeso many delicate fingers, tend to retard it and yet permit it to bedrawn without undue hindrance. As dist-inguished from the tension inwhich two smooth surfaces are made to engage the thread, the felt has atendency to adapt itself to the irregular form of the exterior of thethread, so as to hold it without pinching it, thereby preventing itstendency to kink and at the same time prevent it from rendering theinstant the pull from the needle ceases. The nature of the felt is alsosuch that the tension will remain substantially the same, even thoughthe thread varies slightly in its size, as it will readily adapt itselfto such uneven form without producing an objectionable pinch, which isso liable to render a seam uneven by drawing certain of the stitchesmore tightly than others, and it prevents the still more objectionableannoyance of breaking the thread. It is not liable to break or producesharp edges or get out of order, and when, for any cause, it becomesworn the felt may be replaced by new felt at a very slight cost.

While I have mentioned felt as the material with which the cap is to befilled, I wish it to be understood that a mass of fibrous material otherthan felt which will present a yielding fibrous surface to engage thethread may be employed instead of the felt, the object being to presentnumerous fibers, such as wood fibers, in intimate contact with thethread.

What I claim is-- The tension device, comprising the cap having acentral hub extending inwardly farther than the outer rim of the cap,felt surrounding the said hub and extending flush with it to theexterior rim of the cap and means for drawing the cap toward the face ofthe machine, substantially as set forth.

JAMES F. HARDY. Witnesses:

IRENE B. DECKER, FREDK. HAYNES.

